HOFFMAN ESTATES – Bradley Gillum had a simple, if surprising, mindset heading into his championship match Saturday at the Class 3A Conant Sectional.
“I’m going to be honest, I did not expect myself to win,” Gillum said.
The 145-pound freshman stayed in control after a second-period takedown put him up 2-1, as he went on to defeat Glenbard East’s Alex Posada, 5-2.
Gillum was one of four sectional champions for the Barbs, who qualified 10 wrestler for the Class 3A state tournament that starts Thursday.
Gillum’s doubt was because Posada had defeated Jack Lingle of Schaumburg by fall. Gillum had lost to Lingle, 3-1, on Feb. 2 at the South Elgin Regional.
“He creamed the kid that beat me last week. I was just surprised,” Gillum said. “I went out there, had fun and let it fly.
Gillum, Danny Curran (120), Austin Johnson (160) and Blah Dahnweih (195) all were individual champions as 10 Barbs qualified for state.
“It’s just buying in to what my coaches tell me to do,” Johnson said after an 11-1 sectional title victory. “I’m doing everything they’re telling me to do, I’m working hard, and that’s all there is to it.”
The win for Johnson marked his second straight weekend with a tournament victory.
“There were two kids in that bracket that beat him earlier in the year,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “A month ago he thought maybe his season was done with a knee injury, and now he came back. He has had a lot of adversity in his career. He was out for almost two seasons with a knee injury, a couple of surgeries.”
Fabian Lopez (132, second place), Logan Roach (182, third place) and Dahnweih all will be making return trips to state. It’s the third time Lopez and Dahnweih have qualified for state, and the second for Roach.
Also qualifying for state were Ben Aranda (106, third), Blake McGee (126, second), Damien Lopez (138, third) and Tommy Curran (113 , second). The previous Barbs record for most individuals sent to the state tournament was eight.
Gillum already had been in close matches, winning Friday, 1-0, and in Saturday’s semifinal, 4-0. Aranda, Damien Lopez (138) and Roach controlled their wrestleback consolation matches. Aranda won by 16-1 tech fall and he took third because of an opponent’s injury default.
“My coaches kept telling me to bounce back,” Aranda said about a 3-2 loss to second-ranked Jameir Castleberry of Proviso East. “Real great wrestlers will bounce back. … It was tough to think about, but once I got back on the mat, it was business. You’ve got to handle business.”
Damien Lopez picked up a 10-1 major decision victory to clinch his state spot and a 10-7 win over Taft’s Brendan Gallo to take third.
Roach won by fall in the second period to grab a state spot in the wrestlebacks and then earned a 5-1 decision in the third-place match.
By the numbers: Each of DeKalb’s 10 state qualifiers finished third or better, with four sectional champs, three runners-up and three who finished in third place. By class, three Barbs freshmen qualified (both Currans, Damien Lopez and Gillum), two sophomores qualified (Blake McGee and Ben Aranda), one junior (Fabian Lopez), and three seniors (Johnson, Roach and Dahnweih) reached state.
Beyond the stats: George Colbert, wrestling at 285 pounds, almost earned a spot at state before falling in overtime against Leyden’s Fernando Corona. Colbert appeared to pick up an escape point in overtime, but it was ruled the clock hit zero before. Corona escaped just before the buzzer in the final 30-second overtime. The No. 1 wrestler in the nation at 182 pounds, Abe Assad of Glenbard West, lost to Maine South’s Jon Halverson at the same time Logan Roach was defeating Oak Park and River Forest High School’s Daemyen Middlebrooks by 5-1 decision. Middlebrooks had defeated Roach by fall earlier this season.
They said it: “I’ve been getting beat up all day. My ear is all messed up. But my coaches just said have fun. It doesn’t really matter. I just gave it all I got, and sometimes with hard work comes a lot of pain,” Damien Lopez said, while sporting gauze in a swollen nose and bandaging on his ears, as well as cuts across his face.
Up next: DeKalb will be at the state tournament Thursday. The tournament runs through Saturday.
DeKalb's Damien Lopez defeats against Taft's Brandan Gallo at 138 lb during the Conant 3A Sectional on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 in Hoffman Estates.
DeKalb's Danny Curran celebrates defeating Glenbard East's Resse Martin at 120 lb during the Conant 3A Sectional on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 in Hoffman Estates.
DeKalb's Blake McGee looses to Oak Park-Riverforest's Joshua Ogunsanya at 126 lb during the Conant 3A Sectional on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 in Hoffman Estates.